Winner Takes All may take a back seat as they include stolen votes. The rules allow them to be rejected.. Two Articles
There is a growing and legal movement within the RNC to challenge some of the electors based on their method of obtaining electoral voting privileges.
Winner takes all states means the votes of those who voted for Cruz or Kasich or some other candidate in effect overturn th e right of a voter to have his or her vote counted and applied fairly. Without that assist Trump doesn't have 1237 and a plurality isn't allowed.
The parties run their own elections separate from the rules of government. The FAT lady has yet to yodel.
Here's the article.
RNC official: 1,237 delegates might not win the
nomination after all
posted at 8:01 am on April 29, 2016 by Jazz Shaw
In the endless discussion over whether or not Donald Trump can secure the GOP nomination prior to the convention we have been repeatedly reminded of the importance of the fact that The Rules are the Rules. Chief among these rules is the dictum that a plurality doesn’t count. You don’t win unless you have a majority. And in the case of counting Republican delegates, the magic number is 1,237.
Well… not so fast. According to one RNC official from North Dakota, now that Trump appears to have at least a plausible path to a majority if he prevails in Indiana on Tuesday, 1,237 might not be such an important number after all. (Yahoo Finance)
Donald Trump may be the only Republican presidential candidate who can realistically hit the magic 1,237 number for the majority of delegates, but according to a senior Republican National Committee official that does not mean he will become the GOP presidential nominee.
Curly Haugland, a longstanding RNC official and an unbound delegate from North Dakota who will be on the convention rules committee in July, told CNBC that attaining 1,237 during the primaries does not secure the nomination.
“Even if Trump reaches the magic number of 1,237 the media and RNC are touting, that does not mean Trump is automatically the nominee,” Haugland said. “The votes earned during the primary process are only estimates and are not legal convention votes. The only official votes to nominate a candidate are those that are cast from the convention floor.”
You may remember Haugland as the unbound North Dakota delegate who informed everyone that, “we choose the nominee, not the voters.” That pronouncement didn’t sit well with a lot of folks even when it was viewed as dealing specifically with the unbound delegates, but now he appears to be taking it to the next level. Haugland is basing his #NeverTrump hopes on a new potential wrinkle in the procedures which will play out in Cleveland.
Calling the majority number “an estimate” of what is needed (is this Common Core math?), Haugland is referring to the process for affirming – or more importantly in this case, challenging – the delegates who arrive to be seated at the convention. This should normally be an essentially automatic process since the states are left to their own devices as to how their delegates are selected, but Haugland clearly sees some room to suddenly question those methods, specifically citing the states where Trump has generally done the best.
“Remember every state has a different delegate allocation process,” he said. “Delegates are picked up in state contests that can be winner take all, open primaries, and remember there are seven states that allow the candidates to pick their own delegates. Until those delegate challenges are settled, there is no 1,237.”
Haugland said he expects the delegates won in winner-take-all states to be most likely challenged.
I’m not sure how many of the #NeverTrump supporters out there will be willing to jump onboard with this idea. We’ve been told so loudly and for so long that the only thing that matters is a majority that it’s become something of a religious intonation. Stopping Trump short of 1,237 was the only goal once it became clear that everyone else would be mathematically eliminated. Effusive praise was showered on the Cruz campaign in particular for their skillful negotiations in picking off unbound delegates in state after state to the point where it seemed to be one of the great qualifiers for the presidency. Complaints about the rules in individual states (which I’ve brought up here myself) were met with scorn and derisive demands to respect the rules established by the locals. To turn around now and endorse what would amount to kicking those locally established rules to the curb and simply stripping delegates away from the state delegations may be a bit too much hypocrisy for many to swallow.
And none of this deals with the external perceptions and public reactions which would, without question, follow. If you were worried about riots in the streets if Trump failed to secure the nomination with a plurality, we should be dreading what will happen if the nomination is taken away from him after arriving with a majority.
Would the rules committee do such a thing?
Is a Teddy Bear cuddly?
Second Article
Donald Trump Isn't the 'Presumptive Nominee' -- Not Yet, Anyway
Michael Barone
|
Posted: Apr 29, 2016 12:01 AM
Donald Trump Isn't the 'Presumptive Nominee' -- Not Yet, Anyway
Donald Trump has declared himself, after following up his New York win April 19 with victories in five other Northeastern states Tuesday, the "presumptive nominee" of the Republican Party. Is it a done deal?
Not quite. Trump's 40 percent of total primary votes so far have yielded him 48 percent of pledged delegates -- not exactly the unfair system he's been decrying. He must win about 56 percent of those yet to be chosen to get to the 1,237 majority necessary for the nomination.
There are signs in the Northeastern primary results that he may get there. For the first time, he significantly outperformed his poll showings. For the first time, he got more than 50 percent of the vote (he came closest earlier in Massachusetts, with 49 percent).
But turnout in these primaries hovered around just 10 percent of eligible voters, lower than in any other state but Louisiana. That's partly because registered Republicans are scarce on the ground in the Northeast: 37 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania, between 21 and 29 percent in the other closed primary states. Not coincidentally, none except Pennsylvania has come close to voting for a Republican presidential nominee in recent years.
The Northeastern results are the latest example of a phenomenon seen throughout this Republican race: Voters in one state are not much moved by the choices of voters in an earlier contest.
Donald Trump won in New Hampshire after losing in Iowa. Marco Rubio came in second in South Carolina after stumbling to fifth in New Hampshire. Trump won four of five big states on March 15 but got beat by Ted Cruz in Wisconsin April 5 -- after which, Cruz finished third in five of six states in the Northeast.
CARTOONS | Bob Gorrell
View Cartoon
This reminds me of the 1980 Democratic race between Edward Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. Just when Carter seemed to have things wrapped up, Kennedy would get a big win. Then Carter would come back.
It was as if many Democratic voters wanted neither one to clinch the nomination. Perhaps this year many Republican voters don't relish a Trump victory or a contested convention where Cruz or someone else could win.
The next test comes in Indiana. Polling is sparse there because of a state anti-telemarketing law, w
In a hearbeating New York Second.
Winner takes all states means the votes of those who voted for Cruz or Kasich or some other candidate in effect overturn th e right of a voter to have his or her vote counted and applied fairly. Without that assist Trump doesn't have 1237 and a plurality isn't allowed.
The parties run their own elections separate from the rules of government. The FAT lady has yet to yodel.
Here's the article.
RNC official: 1,237 delegates might not win the
nomination after all
posted at 8:01 am on April 29, 2016 by Jazz Shaw
In the endless discussion over whether or not Donald Trump can secure the GOP nomination prior to the convention we have been repeatedly reminded of the importance of the fact that The Rules are the Rules. Chief among these rules is the dictum that a plurality doesn’t count. You don’t win unless you have a majority. And in the case of counting Republican delegates, the magic number is 1,237.
Well… not so fast. According to one RNC official from North Dakota, now that Trump appears to have at least a plausible path to a majority if he prevails in Indiana on Tuesday, 1,237 might not be such an important number after all. (Yahoo Finance)
Donald Trump may be the only Republican presidential candidate who can realistically hit the magic 1,237 number for the majority of delegates, but according to a senior Republican National Committee official that does not mean he will become the GOP presidential nominee.
Curly Haugland, a longstanding RNC official and an unbound delegate from North Dakota who will be on the convention rules committee in July, told CNBC that attaining 1,237 during the primaries does not secure the nomination.
“Even if Trump reaches the magic number of 1,237 the media and RNC are touting, that does not mean Trump is automatically the nominee,” Haugland said. “The votes earned during the primary process are only estimates and are not legal convention votes. The only official votes to nominate a candidate are those that are cast from the convention floor.”
You may remember Haugland as the unbound North Dakota delegate who informed everyone that, “we choose the nominee, not the voters.” That pronouncement didn’t sit well with a lot of folks even when it was viewed as dealing specifically with the unbound delegates, but now he appears to be taking it to the next level. Haugland is basing his #NeverTrump hopes on a new potential wrinkle in the procedures which will play out in Cleveland.
Calling the majority number “an estimate” of what is needed (is this Common Core math?), Haugland is referring to the process for affirming – or more importantly in this case, challenging – the delegates who arrive to be seated at the convention. This should normally be an essentially automatic process since the states are left to their own devices as to how their delegates are selected, but Haugland clearly sees some room to suddenly question those methods, specifically citing the states where Trump has generally done the best.
“Remember every state has a different delegate allocation process,” he said. “Delegates are picked up in state contests that can be winner take all, open primaries, and remember there are seven states that allow the candidates to pick their own delegates. Until those delegate challenges are settled, there is no 1,237.”
Haugland said he expects the delegates won in winner-take-all states to be most likely challenged.
I’m not sure how many of the #NeverTrump supporters out there will be willing to jump onboard with this idea. We’ve been told so loudly and for so long that the only thing that matters is a majority that it’s become something of a religious intonation. Stopping Trump short of 1,237 was the only goal once it became clear that everyone else would be mathematically eliminated. Effusive praise was showered on the Cruz campaign in particular for their skillful negotiations in picking off unbound delegates in state after state to the point where it seemed to be one of the great qualifiers for the presidency. Complaints about the rules in individual states (which I’ve brought up here myself) were met with scorn and derisive demands to respect the rules established by the locals. To turn around now and endorse what would amount to kicking those locally established rules to the curb and simply stripping delegates away from the state delegations may be a bit too much hypocrisy for many to swallow.
And none of this deals with the external perceptions and public reactions which would, without question, follow. If you were worried about riots in the streets if Trump failed to secure the nomination with a plurality, we should be dreading what will happen if the nomination is taken away from him after arriving with a majority.
Would the rules committee do such a thing?
Is a Teddy Bear cuddly?
Second Article
Donald Trump Isn't the 'Presumptive Nominee' -- Not Yet, Anyway
Michael Barone
|
Posted: Apr 29, 2016 12:01 AM
Donald Trump Isn't the 'Presumptive Nominee' -- Not Yet, Anyway
Donald Trump has declared himself, after following up his New York win April 19 with victories in five other Northeastern states Tuesday, the "presumptive nominee" of the Republican Party. Is it a done deal?
Not quite. Trump's 40 percent of total primary votes so far have yielded him 48 percent of pledged delegates -- not exactly the unfair system he's been decrying. He must win about 56 percent of those yet to be chosen to get to the 1,237 majority necessary for the nomination.
There are signs in the Northeastern primary results that he may get there. For the first time, he significantly outperformed his poll showings. For the first time, he got more than 50 percent of the vote (he came closest earlier in Massachusetts, with 49 percent).
But turnout in these primaries hovered around just 10 percent of eligible voters, lower than in any other state but Louisiana. That's partly because registered Republicans are scarce on the ground in the Northeast: 37 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania, between 21 and 29 percent in the other closed primary states. Not coincidentally, none except Pennsylvania has come close to voting for a Republican presidential nominee in recent years.
The Northeastern results are the latest example of a phenomenon seen throughout this Republican race: Voters in one state are not much moved by the choices of voters in an earlier contest.
Donald Trump won in New Hampshire after losing in Iowa. Marco Rubio came in second in South Carolina after stumbling to fifth in New Hampshire. Trump won four of five big states on March 15 but got beat by Ted Cruz in Wisconsin April 5 -- after which, Cruz finished third in five of six states in the Northeast.
CARTOONS | Bob Gorrell
View Cartoon
This reminds me of the 1980 Democratic race between Edward Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. Just when Carter seemed to have things wrapped up, Kennedy would get a big win. Then Carter would come back.
It was as if many Democratic voters wanted neither one to clinch the nomination. Perhaps this year many Republican voters don't relish a Trump victory or a contested convention where Cruz or someone else could win.
The next test comes in Indiana. Polling is sparse there because of a state anti-telemarketing law, w
In a hearbeating New York Second.
